Reflective Essay: Analyzing Leadership Skills and Improvement Plan

This reflective essay delves into the author's leadership qualities, drawing upon talent management and recruitment theories learned throughout a course. It incorporates knowledge gained from online resources, a psychometric personality test, and feedback from a previous assignment. The essay explores the impact of organizational culture, human resource planning, and performance management. It analyzes the application of leadership theories in real-world scenarios, referencing industry speakers and the application of Maslow’s theory. In-class activities, including a DISC personality test, helped to identify leadership strengths and areas for improvement, concluding that the author exhibits traits of a transformational leader. The essay also addresses assessment feedback and the results of psychometric tests, ultimately concluding with a plan for continued development.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Introduction
The main aim of the essay is to mainly to analyse different aspects that are related to
my leadership based qualities that have been gained in the course of my learning process. The
talent management and recruitment based theories that have been taught to me will be
analysed in the report. The knowledge which has been gained by me with the help of proper
online resources will be a major part of the analysis (Agung and Yuniar 2016). I have also
conducted a psychometric test based on my personality and the ways by which I react in
different situations as well. I have gained major ideas from the previous assignment which
has been done by me. The feedback is based on different in-class based activities that have
been performed by me and the knowledge which has been gained with the help of different
resources and lectures (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2015).
Reflective essay
Leadership Definition – theories taught based on talent management and recruitment
The knowledge which has been gained by me are based on different factors related to
leadership, organizational culture and management. The effect of organization culture on the
employees and the entire environment of the organization as well. The human resource
planning related activities that are performed within the organizations are based on theories
that have been discussed in the class. The consideration which are made based on human
resource planning have been taught in the class (Amar and Mullaney 2017).
The performance management based process that has been implemented by
organizations is based on the theories which have been taught in the class. The theories based
on talent management have been taught in the class. The process of talent management and
its effect on the organizations have been taught in the class. The performance gap based

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
theory is also an important part of the class activities. The most important part of the theories
that have been taught in the class is based on the knowledge based on leadership (Braun et al.
2018).
Effective leadership is considered to be an important trait that is helpful for me to
manage the team efficiently. Development of the team is based on my negotiation capabilities
and ways by which I am able to work within the team. The role which has been played by me
in the team is important for fulfilment of current and the future needs as well. The leadership
based traits that are possessed by me can increase the levels of the effectiveness. The internal
organizational environment can affect the leadership based behaviour that is depicted by the
leader. The organizational operations are affected by the behaviour which is shown by the
leaders. Productivity levels of the employees are increased with the help of leadership
effectiveness (Davenport 2018).
Online resources accessed
The online resources have been able to play a major role in my learning based
process. The resources are important for the analysis of different theories and their
application in different real life based situations. The analysis of organizational culture has
also been made easy with the help of different online resources and information which have
been gained from online platforms like YouTube. The different organizations which have
been analysed within the examination of culture with the help of online resources include,
Google, Southwest Airlines, McDonalds, Oracle Corporation and Amazon (Youtube.com
2019).
The online resources have been analysed in order to examine the cultural aspects of
these organizations. Online resources have also been able to provide an analysis based on
Deutsche Post. The analysis of human resource planning is also based on the online resources

3REFLECTIVE ESSAY
that are related to different global organizations. The organizations which have been taken
into consideration for the analysis based on online resources are, Apple, Westconnex, Telstra.
The video of Apple is based on the recruitment process which has been implemented in the
organization. The contribution which has been provided by the employees is an important
part of the recruitment and organizational culture in Apple (Gambi et al. 2015).
The learning based on performance management and reward system has also been
made with the help of YouTube videos. Online resources have also been used in the class are
also based on talent management and performance gap. The video which has been provided
as a part of this online resource is related to the succession plans that have been designed by
the CEOs of different organizations like, Bank of America, McDonalds and General Motors.
The video has provided me with knowledge related to different factors that are related to the
succession based activities of the CEOs (Hartnell et al. 2016).
Application of theory in real world
The application of theories in the real world have been analysed with the help of the
lecture given by Katherine Dziaman who is an industry speaker. The comparison which has
been made with respect to the characteristics possessed by a good leader and bad leader have
been able to provide knowledge based on the theories which have been learnt by me in the
class. The application of Maslow’s theory is also an important part of the knowledge which
has been provided by the speaker with respect to the application of theories (Hofstetter and
Harpaz 2015). The proper analysis of personal strengths and weaknesses have also been
considered to be an important part of the entire analysis which has been made based on
application in the real world. Maslow’s theory can be applied to the work process which will
be developed by me later in an organization. My needs have to be fulfilled by the
management so that I am able to provide my highest level of productivity.

4REFLECTIVE ESSAY
In-class activities based discussion
The personality test has been done by me with the help of DISC framework which is
helpful for the analysis of different traits which are a part of my personality. The test is
helpful in analysing different parts of my personality which can affect my work process
within the organization of which I am a part. The scores which are thereby received with the
help of DISC personality test are effective in the proper analysis of different areas which are
strong in my personality and areas in which I need to improve as well. The levels of
uniqueness within my personality can be analysed with the help of this test (Körner et al.
2015).
The distribution of scores in different areas of personality is depicted with the help of
a pie chart. This is considered to be effective process in order to analyse the strengths and
weaknesses which have been developed in the work process. The personality types which can
affect the job role are analysed with the help of this personality test. The different areas
which are affected by the personality based test mainly include, leadership and HR and the
likes and dislikes based in this. My own abilities related to the job role can also be tested with
the help of this personality test. The areas in which improvement is required for becoming
suitable for the job role can be decided with the help of a personality test (Lykourentzou et al.
2016).
The activities that have been performed by me in the class have been helpful for me to
understand the type of leadership qualities that have been possessed by me. I have been able
to conclude that I am a transformational leader. The leadership qualities that have been
developed by me are considered to be an important part of the ways by which I can increase
the levels of productivity. I have been a part of a team in the university and managed the team
members in an effective manner by influencing them (Nawaz and Khan_ PhD 2016).

5REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Analysis of assessment feedback
The feedback which has been received by me based on my previous assignment also
needs to be analysed in order to understand different principles that are based on human
resource management. The initiatives based on HRM related issues of the organization have
been analysed in the previous assignment and score which has been received in this section is
also quite high. The human resource based framework has also been analysed in the previous
assignment with the help of different theories. The analysis has been made with respect to the
perceived roles and rewards that are offered to the employees as well (Schyns and Riggio
2016).
On the other hand, the assignment has been based on different cultural initiatives that
have been made by the selected organization. However, the feedback which has been
received for the analysis related to the organization has been rated as moderate by the
professor. The professor has stated that an effective perspective is not present in the analysis
which can help in understanding the cultural perspectives in an effective manner. This has led
to a lack of proper understanding based on the cultural activities which have been performed
by different organizations (Scott et al. 2018).
The engagement based initiatives that are taken by the organizations have also been
analysed as a part of the report. The professor has provided satisfactory remarks in this
section. The review quality has been rated to be sufficient, however, the professor has stated
that there is a lack of proper depth in the analysis that has been made with respect to the
organization which has been selected by for the previous assignment. The marks that have
been received by me in different areas is quite satisfactory in nature (Valmohammadi and
Roshanzamir 2015).
Analysis of the psychometric tests

6REFLECTIVE ESSAY
The psychometric tests which have been made with the help of DISC or Dominance,
Influence, Steadiness, Compliance framework. The DISC personality model has been used in
an effective manner in order to analyse my personality and the traits that are able to affect the
job roles which are played by me. The sequence of the scores which have been gained by me
in the test is able to depict the ways by which I am able to influence different people who
work with me or under me. The different score combinations are able to provide
interpretation and understanding based on the ways by which I can perform in different
situations which arise within the organizational environment (Hancock 2016).
The different profiles which are developed with the help of these tests are provided
with different names that include, coach, achiever, evaluator, creative, counsellor,
inspirational, investigator and many more. I have conducted my own DISC personality test
which has provided a result that is based on different factors. The score which I received
based on Dominance is 47% which means I am able to take decisions (Schyns and Riggio
2016).
The score which has been received by me in Influence is 36% which means that I am
able to influence the decisions which are taken by others. The score which I received on
Steadiness is 9% which is able to depict the levels of my temperament. The score which I
received in Compliance is 7%, which is related to the approach which has been taken by me
with respect to the process of organizing different activities, responsibilities and procedures
(Hofstetter and Harpaz 2015). I agree to the results that have been provided by the
psychometric test and the traits of my personality which have been analysed have played a
key role in analysing my future work process in any industry.
Conclusion

7REFLECTIVE ESSAY
The essay can be concluded by stating that I have been able to receive effective levels
of knowledge based on different factors which are based on leadership and proper
management of performance as well. On the other hand, the knowledge has also been
received by me based on the organization culture and different factors that are related to
motivation. The psychometric tests which have been done with the help of DISC model are
considered to be effective for the proper analysis of my personality and my suitability with
different job roles as well. The feedback on previous assignment has also stated that my
performance was satisfactory and has not been able to affect the ways by which I can analyse
my performance levels within an organization or in the class.

8REFLECTIVE ESSAY
References
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9REFLECTIVE ESSAY
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10REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Youtube.com 2019. Apple's employee recruiting video. [online] YouTube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?timecontinue=85&v=X9SK052cF3c [Accessed 14 Jan.
2019].